The 76-item digital collection consists primarily of letters written to and from Colonel Israel Shreve from 1776 to 1793, with the bulk of the correspondence taking place from 1777 to 1780. Written while Shreve was Colonel of the Second Regiment of New Jersey during the Revolutionary War, the letters are between Shreve and other officers in George Washington's Continental Army – including General George Washington himself.

The collection also includes correspondence between Shreve and his family members, as well as hand-drawn maps, meeting minutes, extracts from General Orders, and handwritten legal documents.

Israel Shreve served as both Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of the Second New Jersey Regiment in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The 2nd N.J. Regiment fought at the Battle of Brandywine on Sept. 11, 1777, and at the Battle of Germantown on Oct. 4, 1777. The troop also spent the cold winter of 1777, short of clothing and food supplies, with Washington's troops at Valley Forge.

In 1779, Shreve and his regiment joined Major General John Sullivan in his campaign against the Tory-allied Iroquois Indians; Shreve was appointed commander of the expedition's base at Fort Sullivan at Tioga. Colonel Shreve retired from the army in January, 1781.